The field of the invention is baking utensils and the device relates more specifically to cake baking pans.
The tendency of a cake to rise non-uniformly during baking has been observed for centuries. The familiar dome in the center of the cake is inconvenient if the cake is to be user as a lower tier of a layer cake. It is common practice to slice the cake horizontally and remove the dome to improve the appearance of the cake and facilitate stacking and decorating the cake. It has also been noted that the finished cake is less uniform in texture adjacent the edge of the pan and a higher more uniformly baked product would be desirable.
It is believed that the doming or non-uniform rising of cakes results from the fact that the oven heat heats the side of the baking pan before any rising has taken place, and melts any exposed shortening which has been placed on the sides. Then as the cake rises, the batter tends to stick to the sides as a result of the absence of the shortening and to be baked too quickly at the sides compared to the center of the cake due to the excessive heat accumulated by the exposed sides of the baking pan.
It has been proposed that the insulation of the side walls of the baking pan with water will eliminate this non-uniform rising. A device for accomplishing this is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,893 where a layer of water is placed around the outer side walls of the baking pan and tends to cool the side walls of the pan during baking. Because of the cost of fabricating a double pan utensil of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,893 it is believed that such a device would not find widespread use outside of commercial bakers.
Another approach is set forth in a book entitled "Decorating Cakes and Party Foods Baking Too!" by Louise Spencer, Hearthside Press, Inc., Publishers, New York, Copyright 1969. This book suggests that strips of terrycloth be cut into strips about three times as wide as the depth of the pan. It then suggests that the strips be soaked in water and wrung out so that they are wet but not dripping. The book then directs that the wet strips be pinned tightly around the outside of the pan. This method has also not found widespread use because of the difficulty in performing the task, the likelihood of the strips slipping away from the sides of the pan, falling and causing a fire hazard and the lack of results in the event the strips do not contact or cling tightly to the sides of the pan during the baking process.